Algeria announced on Thursday that it was cutting diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, in a move that further escalates, in an unprecedented manner, the crisis that has been ongoing between the two countries for years.
Algeria’s state television reported in a breaking news bulletin that “Algeria has decided to cut diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates after exhausting all means to preserve bilateral relations.”
The Algerian authorities have not, so far, disclosed the direct and full reasons behind their decision to sever ties, saying only that the move came after all means of preserving bilateral relations had been exhausted. The decision comes amid mounting tensions between Algiers and Abu Dhabi in recent years, which have reached unprecedented levels over the past period.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had hinted in October 2025 at a deep dispute with an unnamed Gulf country, saying that his country’s relations with Gulf states were “fraternal” except for one country, in what was widely understood as a reference to the UAE. Tebboune accused that country of interfering in Algeria’s internal affairs and seeking to destabilize it.
The dispute escalated further in May 2025, when a sharp media and political crisis erupted between the two countries following an interview given by Algerian historian Mohamed Amine Belghit to Sky News Arabia, which is based in Abu Dhabi. Belghit’s remarks about Amazigh identity triggered angry reactions in Algeria, before Algerian state television launched a strong attack on the UAE, signaling that the dispute between the two countries had entered an unprecedentedly public phase.
In February 2026, Algeria also began procedures to terminate its air services agreement with the UAE, which was signed in 2013 and ratified in 2014, without providing an official explanation for the decision. Algeria confirmed that the termination procedures were being carried out through diplomatic channels, while the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority said the agreement would remain in force during the legally required notification period and that flights between the two countries would continue normally during that period.
The political tensions between the two countries have also intersected with regional and economic issues, particularly amid the growing UAE-Morocco partnership and Abu Dhabi’s positions on several issues that Algeria considers strategically sensitive. Reuters reported in 2024 that Algerian-UAE relations had deteriorated in recent years, among other factors, because of the UAE and Morocco’s growing ties with Israel, at a time when Algeria has adopted a more hardline position toward the Abraham Accords.
The energy file has also emerged as an area highlighting the sensitivity of relations between Algeria and Abu Dhabi, particularly after UAE-based TAQA entered talks in 2024 to acquire stakes in Spanish energy company Naturgy, which has long-term contracts with Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach. The potential deal raised concerns over the future of Algerian gas supplies to Spain, before Naturgy confirmed that its contracts with Algeria did not contain provisions that would be affected by changes in the company’s ownership structure.
At the same time, Algerian media have in recent years accused the UAE of seeking to expand its influence in the Sahel and North Africa in ways that conflict with Algerian interests, amid growing regional competition over Libya, the Sahel and Western Sahara. Abu Dhabi, for its part, has not officially acknowledged, in relation to these accusations, pursuing any policy aimed at destabilizing Algeria, while its public responses to the dispute have remained limited compared with the escalation coming from Algeria.
The decision to sever diplomatic relations comes after a series of escalatory steps and measures, including the termination of the air services agreement, public statements by President Tebboune and reciprocal media attacks, signaling the transition of the crisis from a period of political tensions to a full diplomatic rupture. The precise reasons that prompted Algeria to take the latest step remain officially undisclosed.
